In a pick that melds political calculations and historical resonance, the Democratic Party on Thursday announced that it had selected Philadelphia as the site of its 2016 national convention.

One of three finalists to host the convention, Philadelphia edged Brooklyn and Columbus, Ohio, for the honor. In a statement, party officials pointed to the city’s status as a cradle of American democracy as well as the logistical infrastructure to pull off a massive event in which thousands converge to celebrate the official nomination of the party’s presidential candidate.

“In addition to their commitment to a seamless and safe convention, Philadelphia’s deep-rooted place in American history provides a perfect setting for this special gathering,” said Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the chair of the Democratic National Committee. A contract with the city to host the event was signed Thursday morning.

Party officials calculated that staging the event in Philadelphia could give Democrats a boost in a vital state that Republicans are hoping to contest in 2016. Pennsylvania is more blue than purple: Barack Obama won it twice, as did defeated nominees John Kerry and Al Gore. But with 20 electoral votes, the Keystone State is a battleground the party cannot afford to lose. And it is filled with the white middle-class voters that form a cornerstone of Democratic nomination front runner Hillary Clinton’s coalition. Democrats believe that hosting the convention in the Philadelphia media market will help showcase their message to such voters.

LIFE's Best Convention Photos: The Democrats

Scene at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

John Phillips—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Of this picture, LIFE noted in its July 29, 1940, issue: "Trying, amid the general convention apathy and sullenness, to find some Democrats who appeared to be having fun [as it was clear FDR would be nominated for an unprecedented third term, the convention lacked drama], a LIFE photographer went to the famous 606 Club ... featuring an almost continuous strip tease."

John Phillips—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Senator Harry S. Truman and his family at the 1944 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Roosevelt supporters demonstrate at the 1944 Democratic National Convention in Chicago where he was nominated for a fourth term.

Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

George Vaughn of Missouri offers motion to unseat the anti-Truman delegation from Mississippi during the 1948 Democratic National Convention.

Gjon Mili—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Franklin D. Roosevelt's oldest son, James, gets makeup for a television broadcast during the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Penn.

George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Alabama delegation leader Handy Ellis (center) on the floor during the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Ellis,a "Dixiecrat," would eventually lead a walkout over the Democratic platform plank supporting civil rights.

Delegates strategize on the floor during the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Scene at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Two-way radios were used to interview delegates on the floor at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Georgia Congresswoman Iris Blitch, a staunch segregationist during her time in Congress, being saluted by her state's delegates before her speech at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Frank Scherschel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Democratic politician Averell Harriman watches former President Harry S. Truman support him during the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Harriman lost the nomination to Adlai Stevenson that year, and in 1952.

Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy confers with his brother and campaign organizer, Robert Kennedy, in a hotel suite during the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Scene at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn of Texas grieves over Lyndon Johnson's defeat at the 1960 Democratic National Convention after JFK won the nomination. Johnson, of course, was added to the ticket as Kennedy's VP pick.

Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Eleanor Roosevelt addresses delegates at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, where she supported Illinois' Adlai Stevenson over the party's eventual nominee, John F. Kennedy.

Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Not originally published in LIFE. Senator John F. Kennedy speaks at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Adlai Stevenson (center) and Lyndon Johnson (right) congratulate John F. Kennedy on winning the party's presidential nomination at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Delegates from Illinois show their support for President Lyndon Johnson at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Robert F. Kennedy (right), his wife Ethell and Democratic stalwart Averell Harriman at a reception for Jackie Kennedy during the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

President Lyndon Johnson with his running mate Hubert Humphrey during the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Demonstrators protest American involvement in the Vietnam War outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968.

Charles Phillips—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Not originally published in LIFE. Connecticut delegates and Eugene McCarthy supporters Paul Newman (right) and playwright Arthur Miller during the contentious 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

A protestor is grabbed by police during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968.

Lee Balterman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

California delegate Charles Anderson burns his credentials to protest the party's decision to seat only half of Georgia's civil rights delegation during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968.

Michael Mauney—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Chicago mayor Richard Daley — a Democrat who served for five terms and remains one of the most controversial figures in Chicago political history — on the floor during the Democratic National Convention in 1968.

Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Delegates for Alabama's George Wallace cheer behind a delegate for New York's Shirley Chisholm—the first African-American woman ever elected to Congress—during the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach.

Bill Eppridge—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

George McGovern delegation co-chair Willie Brown, Jr.—later the powerful, long-time Speaker of the California State Assembly and, eventually, the mayor of San Francisco—embraces an unidentified woman during the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach. McGovern would win his party's nomination, but was crushed by Richard Nixon during the presidential election, winning only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

Bill Eppridge—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

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A walkable city with mass transit and a plethora of hotel rooms, the City of Brotherly Love boasts the amenities needed to absorb the influx of visitors. “The only three factors that we considered when deciding which was the strongest city to host our convention were logistics, security and resources,” Wasserman Schultz said on a conference call Thursday afternoon. “Extraneous issues were not a factor, whatsoever.” Yet Philadelphia lacked the potential drawbacks of its competitors.

As the capital of the vital swing state of Ohio, Columbus was an appealing option to party officials. But as the smallest city among the finalists, there were concerns about whether it had the hotels to host the event, as well as whether the Republicans’ decision to hold their 2016 convention in Cleveland would sap the state’s finite supply of cash.

A lack of accommodations in the immediate vicinity was also a concern about Brooklyn. One plan relied on transporting guests from their hotel rooms in Manhattan to the convention at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center via ferry, which seemed a sure logistical nightmare. And in recent months, says a Democrat familiar with the process, the party’s selection committee grew increasingly concerned about the tension between New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city’s police force. Selecting New York as the site of the convention would have trained a spotlight on de Blasio, a controversial liberal, during a week when the party’s prime mission is to reach the swing voters who can shape the fate of elections.

The convention will take place the week of July 25, about a month earlier than four years ago. As in 2012, it will immediately follow the Republican convention in Cleveland. The back-to-back scheduling is designed to counter the bump in the polls that parties traditionally accrue from the nationally televised spectacle.